[ laughter ]. >> reporter: with a legendary chicago liquor, something made this impression in fresh concrete. but is it a rat? >> okay, it's probably a squirrel. it has the wide hips and the long claws of a squirrel. >> reporter: whatever it was, one state representative is touting it as the jewel of the 11th district. >> the chicago rat hole. >> reporter: but everyone is wondering, did he get out? optimists say you can see paw prints. >> leading away from the splat hole. >> reporter: it's been the coyote of chicago. someone even left an offering of what appeared to be hormone pills and a hot flash of inspiration. let's let the leader of the rat pack salute the city's latest tourist attraction.

♪ >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. ♪ >> time for this rat pack to pack it in. thanks very much for joining me this evening. i'm jim acosta. we'll be back tomorrow night. good night. ♪ your way 'round the hill. and now the party bosses want a meeting. they have a proposition. they want you to take a shot at the white house... not eventually, but now. - think about it, will you? narrator: well, first you'll have to get past her, the senator with decades of experience and friends in high places, already at home in the oval office. ♪ ♪ and then you'll have to get past him,

a senator and bona fide war hero backed b by a mean polititical machinine. [crowd chanting indistinctly] let's say you are ready. here's the real question. is america? [dramatic music] only one way to find out. [tense music] ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ america, president george w. bush's second term. [chatter] at war in iraq and afghanistan, teetering on the brink of a global economic crash, disillusioned, divided, and desperate for change. whoever wins the democratic nomination looks like a shoe-in for the white house. senator hillary clinton is ready to roll. - i'm not just starting a campaign, though. i'm beginning a conversation with you, with america. - we had been working on getting ready for a potential presidential run for hillary clinton for a very long time. all the pieces were in place.

- hillary clinton is a major frontrunner as she launches her campaign. she's the former first lady. she is a well-respected senator. she is married to bill clinton. - and i'm in it to win it. [cheers and applause] - the team was never overconfident about winning because a lot of women would vote for the first woman president. the question was would men? ♪ ♪ narrator: in hillary clinton's office is a photograph of the obama family, a gift from the freshman senator from illinois. - people call me alabama, or they call me yo mama, but the name's obama. - barack obama really wasn't on our radar as a candidate in early 2006. i think the general feeling was he just got to the senate. there is no way he's gonna run for president.

that would be pretty, you know, audacious. - i got a call from senator obama in the spring of 2006, and he said, "i just had the most peculiar meeting." he said, "harry reid and chuck schumer called me in." narrator: senators harry reid and chuck schumer, top democratic dogs on the hill. - and harry said, "you ought to think about running for president." ♪ ♪ narrator: like every overnight success, obama's didn't actually happen overnight. - we waged a quiet campaign to get him the keynote slot at the 2004 democratic convention. - do we participate in a politics of cynicism,

or do we participate in a politics of hope? - he wants to think of himself as, you know, a case study for the nation. - the hope of the skinny kid with a funny name who believes that america has a place for him too. [cheering] - that he is coming from a very distinct background that represents the american story. [cheering] - there is not a black america and a white america and latino america and asian america. there's the united states of america. - i think everybody saw this guy is gonna be president someday, but so soon? so quickly? - did i think he had the makings of a good president? i certainly did. did i know he had the makings of a good presidential candidate? i wasn't sure about that. - my concern was that he wasn't pathological enough,

[chatter] and then h he said, "you knonow me. i'm competitive.e." he saiaid, "i'm nonot getting intoto this to l lose." narrrrator: and d how does the cacandidate's s wife fe? [laughs] - mimichelle obabama's a reaeal. she wantnts to know w just howd it c could possisibly be so she can prepare herself for that. - at one point she askeded, "w"what is it t that you t k you cacan contribubute that nobodydy else can n contribu" anand barack s said, "the dayay i put my y hand up and takeke that oathth of offi, the world will look at us differently, and there are kids all over this country, millions of kids who will look at themselves differently." ♪ ♪ - i stand before you today to announce my candidacy for president of the united states of america. [cheers and applause] - from the day that barack obama entered, he was the opponent. we knew that.

it was a puzzle trying to figure out how to stop that phenomenon. ♪ ♪ narrator: one part of that puzzle, an unpopular war in iraq. obama spoke out against it. clinton voted to support it. chief strategist mark penn's idea is to double down on clinton's toughness by channeling britain's iron lady. - one of his strong messages to the team and to the candidate, not mary tyler moore. we need ma other people, myself included, felt that american voters really needed to see the hillary that we knew, fiercely loyal, fiercely nurturing, funny, but we lost that battle. [applause] narrator: in late march 2007, the iron lady and the skinny kid with the funny name

face off in las vegas. the issue: healthcare. - she has been studying public policy all of her life. she's really, really good. - so we can't get universal healthcare coverage unless we end insurance discrimination once and for all. - obama looked ill-informed. he didn't really have a fully formulated plan. - i would like to-- - he always resisted and really resented the performance part of politics. - as i indicated before-- - that really wasn't how he was wired. - we have a plan that we are in the process of unveiling. - he was kinda cut down to size a little bit. - we don't just need candidates to have a plan. we're all gonna have plans. that's not in doubt. we need a movement. [cheers and applause] - she cleaned his clock. yeah. - thank you all very much. - i mean, he was very blunt about it, and he said,

"hillary looked like a president up there, and i didn't."

- i know how to fight, and i know how to make peace. i know who i am and what i want to do. [applause] narrator: senator john mccain is in portsmouth, new hampshire to announce his bid for the 2008 republican nomination. - john mccain is a hero of mine,

the insurgent, the smart guy, the fighter, you know, the truth teller, you know, the underdog. - he is a genuine war hero, prisoner of war, shot down over north vietnam, badly wounded. - what is your rank? - lieutenant command in the navy. - and your official number? - 624787. - his father was an important figure in the u.s. military, and he was given the opportunity to leave captivity early, and he says, "i'm not gonna go. i'm gonna sit here in hell with my colleagues." ♪ ♪ narrator: mccain is going to need all his legendary resilience to overcome the legacy of the current republican president. - the iraq war, the abuse of iraqi prisoners by american military, the gross negligence towards the victims

of hurricane katrina, the economy is souring, and bush's approval ratings are down in the 30s. - george bush was like a tire that was lit on fire and hung around john mccain's neck. - once considered the gop frontrunner in the race for the white house, john mccain is now struggling to keep his campaign afloat. - the campaign wasn't managed well, and a lot of money was raised, but it was also spent. - we had a staff of about just under 400 people. we had a massive campaign office in crystal city. we started running out of money. we started running out of support. - there were genuine divisions and friction. strategy, money, a host of things. - john knew the campaign wasn't working. he was either gonna get out of the campaign and cut his losses, or he was gonna have to change the campaign dramatically, and so john mccain did what was a typical john mccain move.

in order to get a little relaxation and clear his mind, he went to a battle zone. he went to iraq. [laughs] narrator: in baghdad on the 4th of july, surrounded by the military he so admires, john mccain attends a reenlistment and naturalization ceremony. ♪ ♪ - when he got to the ceremony, he saw boots of the guys that were going to be made naturalized citizens there. they had been killed in action, and that got to him. - john came back and told us this story, and he was very emotional, and he said, "i looked at that, and i realized i need to fight as much for my country as they are." narrator: mccain makes a bold tactical move, stripping his campaign to the bare bones and re-launching it as the no surrender tour. - okay, guys. we're having fun now. narrator: while other candidates--

republican and democrat-- distance themselves from the unpopular war in iraq, the maverick john mccain defends it, insisting that victory is within reach. - he told us all that the new campaign theme is he'd rather lose the presidency than lose the war in iraq. - mccain believed not only in the war but that we needed to put more troops in in order to make sure we won the war, the so-called surge strategy. - with the surge comes additional troops and additional spending that a war-weary nation was very likely to contest. ♪ ♪ - we were playing to very small crowds, and i mean, i remember one, i think it was in somebody's garage. - we cannot surrender in iraq, my friends, and we will not as long as you support these brave people that are serving. ♪ ♪ narrator: the republican race has gotten crowded.

among the frontrunners is former governor of massachusetts mitt romney... - all right, ready? - okay. narrator: a candidate who's everything mccain is not. - very buttoned-down, very conservative in his personality, in his style, very smooth on the stump. narrator: determined to grab back the media spotlight, mccain picks a fight with romney. - he had been wishy-washy on the iraq war. he didn't want to get into it. we saw it as a vulnerability. narrator: the opportunity comes during a republican debate in new hampshire when the subject of the surge comes up. - what i've indicated is very consistent with what the president is speaking about and what we're hearing from iraq right now, and that is that the surge is apparently working. - and of course, john saw that as the moment, and he pounced. - governor, the surge is working. the surge is working, sir. - that's just what i said. - it is working. no, not apparently. it's working. - "it's not apparently. it is working," you know? and--right, and, "it is working. it is working.

that's surrender to say apparently working." - and i can assure you it's more than apparent. it is working, and we have to rally the american people. - and, you know, it worked, you know? it--the essential mccain came through. - it's not that people like wars, but they like being winners, and john mccain gave them the first inkling of hope that we could actually pull this off at a time when everyone's war-weary. that was the magic. narrator: john mccain sails into the primary season telling anyone who will listen that mac is back, a battle cry that carries him through to the nomination by early march. - i will be the republican nominee for president of the united states. [cheers and applause] - we were able to thread through the eye of the needle. john mccain had done it his way, like frank sinatra. [laughs] ♪ ♪

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switch today. ♪ ♪ - can i say hello? narrator: barack obama's knocking on every door in iowa, determined to win this crucial first state. - hillary clinton was such a strong frontrunner, our view was we had to win iowa, not come in second, not come in third. we had to o have a jololt. wewe had to have her have a s setback. - that's r right, you u know, if you canan't stand the heat,

get out t of the kititchen. - the kitctchen. [laughghter] nanarrator: obama's s iowa stratategy is mononths in thehe making-- - how arare you? narratator: painststakingly bubt from the g grass rootsts up. - he's's a candidadate runnnning for prpresident. - - we had yououng peoplee fromom around ththe countryy who descended on iowowa and d really bececame kind of indigenous to their communities. - theyey had to ususe their sk, their personalitity, their persuasion, their character to recruit people. - i got a o! you've got a bama! - o!o! all: b bama! - o!o! all: b bama! - i gogot an o. you got t a-- - - you know,, i hahave david p plouffe pokiking his fininger inin my chest t saying, "we're going to win iowa, right, blake?" i said, "absolutely, sir, absolutely. we're going to win." he's like, "we are going to win." "yes, we are. yes, we are." - so i was organizing southeast polk county, and i would post up at a coffee shop, sort of at a roadside diner in this back booth.

anytime someone would walk in, i would kind of perk up and, you know, earnestly hope to bring them over to talk to me. i became a known figure in the community. people would say, "oh, yeah, you know, you're that chinaman that's over at that coffee shop." and i would be like, "yeah, i guess, yeah. that's me." it took maybe a month before the first person came up and chatted me up, and we knew that we were gaining some ground. [marching band music] ♪ ♪ narrator: : just over r 50 das beforere caucus ninight, withth barack anand michele dancncing out frfront, teteam obama revealed for the first titime the e strength of theheir organizization. - we hadad amazing young peoe showing up. ththese are nonot trtraditional l caucus-goeoe. we kinind of made caucucuses seseem cool. - - so we had d the isisereres drum linine,

which, they wewere alwayss just c crushing itit, you know, great energy. i got on my bandanna and my t-shirtrt, meme and ronninie cho, chcho doing ththe cho-bama dancnce outside,e, you kno? - ththere must have beenen the or 4,000 v volunteerss and supporters. you could hear this drum kinda getting louder and louder as it marched downtown. someone said, "oh, my god, it's like "lord of the rings." [crowd chanting] [marching band music playing] - iowawa was perplplexing toto our campapaign. you know, young people do not c caucus. ththey just dodon't. - hillary'y's campaigngn, yoyou know, dismissed them as facebook kids, but they were the future. they were obama's people, and hillary's people missed that. ♪ ♪ narrator:: it's's 6:30 on c caucus nig, and in thehe next couple of f hours, obobama's ten-n-month iowawae will e either be w won or los. - i i had no idedea what a c cs wawas before i i got therer.

no clue what it was. - well, wolf, i think the most important thing to remember about the democratic caucuses is they're not an election. they are a caucus. they're more like a meeting, and d people stand up and d be counteded. - but the e best way t to desce it is-- is 90 minutes of organized chaos. - i need one person for obama. darn, nobody. oh, , you don't t want be, l , cocounted for r obama? - yes,s, i have bebeen coununted for obobama. - - oh, yes, t thank you. . you. - it w was so loudud in the, you u could not t think, and i'm trying to hold it together, but i felt confident because i know that i'd done the work, and i knew every single person walking in that door. i knknew their f families. i'veve had lunchch in theheir living g rooms. - in that t moment thehey're t thinkingng about, nenecessari, the speech obama gave. they're thinking about, "okay, you're the person asking me. you're representing obama. i believe in you. i trust in you. you're making a good case. i'll be for you." - holy shit. holy shit. holy shit. - we are b back on thehe air he in deses moines,

and we have news to report at this hour. "nbc news" is projecting that when all the caucus-goers' preferences are counted up, barack obama will win the iowa caucuses on the democratic side. - history. - i may live to 100 years old, and i will maintain that that will always hold a place as one of the best nights of my life. - [laughs] uh-- iowa caucus night was really, probably, the worst night of my political life. [applause] we thought, "you know what? maybe she is just not likable enough to be president." narrator: with the new hampshire primary just days away, the media is drafting clinton's political obituary. - i had the task of telling her that we were not in a good place, that our polling showed that we were gonna lose new hampshire,

and worse, we may even come in third. so from there, you know, she goes to her first event. - we're in the rv. we're campaigning, and someone gets on and says, "hillary just broke down at an event." - our communications people, our press people are getting calls, "hillary's crying, hillary's crying." - you know, i have so many opportunities from this country. i just don't want to see us fall backwards. - when i saw the footage of her looking into her heart and answering why she wants to be president-- - i see what's happening, and we have to reverse it. - i thought, "all right, this is good for us." narrator: and when the results come in, the tears in the clinton camp are tears of joy. - for the first time this evening i can tell you that campaign officials do believe that she's won here tonight. high fives being exchanged all around.

- it was a real turning point for the campaign. - over the last week i listened to you, and in the process i found my own voice. ♪ ♪ - i think we were shell-shocked. it wasas just a prprofoundy painful l defeat. hehe said, "yoyou know whah? it s shouldn't b be too easy" and i remember thinking, "why not?"

this election is a choice between results or just rhetoric. californians deserve a senator who is going to deliver for them every day and not just talk a good game. adam schiff. he held a dangerous president accountable. he also helped lower drug costs, bring good jobs back home, and build affordable housing. now he's running for the senate. our economy, our democracy, our planet.

this is why we fight. i'm adam schiff, and i approve this message. narrator: the fight for the democratic nomination rolls into south carolina, and the gloves are coming off. - i am sorry. - whoa, wait--whoa, wait a minute, just a minute now. [crosstalk] - he said, "look, this is gonna be a tough debate, and i'm going to be tough." - while i was working on those streets watching those folks see their jobs shipped overseas, you were a corporate lawyer sitting on the board of wal-mart. i was fighting these fights. - he didn't say it, but i think he thought it was important for the african-american community in south carolina to see that he wasn't gonna be pushed around. [cheers and applause] narrator: political arguments here often circle around the issue of race. - see, in south carolina race permeates everything, okay?

it doesn't matter where you go to church, where you go to school, where you live. race is just kind of a defining factor. narrator: up till now, the obamama strategy o on re hahas been largely to steer clear. - we always understated race. he always used to say, "i'm o of the afafrican-american community, but i'm not limited to it." - that was audacious on his part t for him toto sa, "i'm n not gonna l let you put me intnto this smamall bo. i want to be in the full box, the big box with everybody." - how w old are yoyou, nine? - and d people saiaid he wasas trying to be e post-raciaial. ♪ ♪ narrator: but in south carolina, history is too raw and memories too bitter for post-racial to fly. ar in the black community that every time we get our hopes around a great leader, like dr. king, like malcolm x, medgar evers--

that they all get assassinated, ♪ ♪ and there were people who literally said, "i don't wanna vote for barack obama because i'm concerned for his safety, that if i vote for him and put him in that position, they are going to try to kill him." narrator: michelle obama had hit south carolina early to address the issue head-on. - she goes right into orangeburg, and she, in her own way, directly and clearly said to the crowd that was gathering, "i know you're afraid. i have those same fears, but we have to conquer those fears." - and i equate it to, like, you know, we all have that aunt, that grandmother that bought all that new furniture, spent our life savings on it, and then what did she do? she puts plastic on it to protect it. [laughter] - look, don't treat him like your grandmother's living room furniture that's covered in plastic. we can't protect him. we have to take the plastic off, and that--and that just rang so true to so many people.

- let's prove to our children that they can really reach for their dreams. i want that for my girls. let's show them that america is ready for barack obama today, right now. [applause] - i was taping some ads with michelle obama, and i looked at my blackberry, and i said, "oh, my god, i can't believe this. this can't be true," and she's, like, going, "what? what?" and finally i said, "it says we're gonna win by 30 points," and she--i think she slugged me and said, "don't ever do that to me again." ♪ ♪ narrator: obama scores big, and his supporters go wild. [cheering] - there was a spontaneous chant that erupted at his victory speech of, "race doesn't matter."

all: race doesn't matter! race doesn't matter! race doesn't matter! - it was, in one way, a beautiful thing to hear that, and in another way it was way premature. - we were winning, winning, winning, winning, winning, winning. - and when it hit, it hit like a lightning bolt. - the government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three strike law, and then wants us to sing "god bless america?" narrator: on march 13, 2008, america is introduced to the reverend jeremiah wright. - jeremiah wright is the pastor of barack obama and his wife. he married them. he baptized their two little daughters. - no, no, no, not god bless america. god damn america!

- how could you go to this church for 20 years and not know this guy-- - okay, there's no way obama can shade it, "well, you know, i sort of agree." - strictly, obama's out. - this wasas a grade-a-a polititical shit s storm. - new polls say barack obama's taking a big hit because of his pastor. - the backlash is so swiftft and soso fierce anand so viscel that barack obama has to react. - he called me, and he said, "okay, i wanna give thisis speech onon race. it's non-n-negotiable,e, and i wanna give it no later than tuesday morning." [cheers and applause] - so i remember sitting in the audience next to michelle obama. - thank you. - anand we were e all kind of braracing ourseself. - reveverend wrighght's commes werere not only y wrong, but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity. i i can no morore disown h m thanan i can disisown mymy white grarandmother, who onon more thanan one occasn has utterered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

- ththat vulnerarability and williningness to b be so open and honest, people feel it. they don't just think it. they feel it. - these people are part of me, and they are part of america, this country that i love. - it actually turned a moment of doubt into a moment of triumph because he looked like a president of the united states. ♪ ♪ narrator: hillary clinton slugs it out until the end, and when she finally goes down, she goes down fighting. - although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it. [cheers and applause] narrator: on a balmy august night in denver, in front of 80,000 people,

barack obama accepts his nomination. - for me, that was one of the times when the history of this was apparent. you see him stride out there, first african-american nominee. it was a magical night. - thank you. [cheers and applause] thank you so much. narrator: the next day, obama's magic night is overshadowed by breaking news. - our phones start buzzing with rumors that john mccain is picking sarah palin for his vice presidential pick, and we're all like, "what?" ♪ ♪

[cheers and applause] narrator: trailing in the polls, republican nominee john mccain decides to roll the dice. - we started looking at what we could do to get back in the race because we were barely mentioned in the news. we were desperate for attention. - she's not from these parts, and she's not from washington,

but when you get to know her, you're gonna be as impressed as i am. - we needed to find someone that could move some votes, and we sure did. - i am very pleased and very privileged to introduce to you the next vice president of the united states, governor sarah palin of the great state of alaska. [cheers and applause] - i was just your average hockey mom and signed up for the pta. [cheers and applause] i love those hockey moms. you know, they say the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull, lipstick. [laughter] - there was not another word to be breathed about barack obama on the evening news that night. it was all sarah all week long. ♪ ♪ - i was surprised and elated.

she was known as a conservative republican, a solid conservative, outspoken. - she's particularly popular with white working-class evangelical churchgoers. [applause] - she had a great impact on the ticket and boosted mccain's chances. she drew bigger crowds out in the country than mccain did. - mccain had no real argument for why he should beat barack obama, but when he picked her, a significant slice of the country just lit up. ♪ ♪ - obama says, "national politics is really tough." he said, "it took me six months to become a decent candidate. maybe she's the greatest candidate since ronald reagan, but i give this a month, and we'll know in a month what kind of candidate she is." - what insight into russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does--does the proximity of this state give you? - they're our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see russia from land here in alaska.

- the media was rough on her, but, you know, that's what you expect when you're in a presidential campaign. - you've cited alaska's proximity to russia-- - mm-hmm. - as part of your foreign policy experience. what did you mean by that? - every morning when alaskans wake up, one of the first things they do is look outside to see if there are any russians hanging around. - "saturday night live" doesn't treat anyone fairly. - and it's our responsibilitity to sayay, you u know, "shoo. getet back overer ther" [l[laughter] - sasarah palin n really dididnt a fair s shot to be e able to present her own credentials to the american public without getting defined in advance by the media. she wasn't looking for a pass. she was just looking for a fair break. - pew, pew, pew. [laughter,r, applause]e] narrator: the palin phenomenon is only upstaged by an event of global significance. - so on september 14, 2008, i called a meeting at my office

because we were worried about sarah palin, and at the end of the meeting, senator obama said, "i just spoke to hank paulson last night for an hour," who was george bush's treasury secretary, "and he said, 'something bad is gonna happen overnight. i can't tell you what it is, but it's gonna have a dramatic impact.'" - it was a monday morning like none other in the 158-year history of financial giant lehman brothers. the company went bankrupt. - this is a global catastrophe. the market's selling off 800 points a day. it's head-spinning. you know, you felt like you were in a crashing airplane. - john said, "i gotta do what's right for the country, you know, suspend our presidential campaign. i gotta go to capitol hill, make sure they do the right thing on the bailout." - "and i'm not going to be campaigning because of this crisis. i think we should cancel the next presidential debate." - then obama comes out and says, "guess what?" - it is going to be part of the president's job to deal with more than one thing at once.

- and kept on campaigning. - john mccain asks to have a summit meeting at the white house that he will attend, obama will attend, and senate leaders and congressional leaders will attend as well as the incumbent president, george bush. - the breaking news happening right now, president bush and the men running to replace him together at the white house talking about the nation's financial crisis. - and the word gets out in the media that obama seemed supremely presidential in the white house, and john mccain did not. ♪ ♪ - you know, the world economy fell apart in that campaign, and he somehow, as a junior, baby senator, looks more presidential handling it than a legendary war hero in john mccain. - you know, i think from that point on, we wouldn't have said it to each other, but i think in all our minds we knew that the odds were almost impossible. [applause]

narrator: mccain resumes campaigning the next day, and the first presidential debate will go ahead as scheduled. - before the first debate, um, uh-- i was a nervous wreck. [cheers and applause] i turned to obama, and i said, "how are you feeling?" and he said, "just give me the ball, man. i'm ready."

this election is a choice between results or just rhetoric. californians deserve a senator who is going to deliver for them every day and not just talk a good game. adam schiff. he held a dangerous president accountable. he also helped lower drug costs, bring good jobs back home, and build affordable housing. now he's running for the senate. our economy, our democracy, our planet. this is why we fight. i'm adam schiff, and i approve this message.

i was reading today a copy of "the new york times." [crowd jeering] narrator: a month before election day, with the republican ticket just six points behind, sarah palin lobs a grenade into the obama campaign. - and i was really interested to read in there about barack obama's friends from chicago. [crowd jeering] turns out one of his earliest supporters is a man who, according to "the new york times," was a domestic terrorist. narrator: the article, about 1960s revolutionary bill ayers, offers the republican ticket a chance to come from behind. - bill ayers was a professor in chicago

and a neighbor of barack obama, but he had a very radical past. he had been a member of the domestic terrorist group the weather underground, in the late 1960s, early 1970s that planted bombs at the u.s. capitol, the pentagon, and the department of state. narrator: the mccain team seizes the moment. - we did decide that the relationship that obama had with bill ayers was in bounds, and so we took advantage of it. ♪ ♪ - barack obama and domestic terrorist bill ayers, friends. they've worked together for years, but obama tries to hide it. why? ♪ ♪ narrator: obama plays down his relationship with ayers, but the controversy adds fuel to a racist whispering campaign that's taken up by the mainstream media. - there was a dark underbelly. the whole notion that

senator obama wasn't born in this country, that he was a muslim, mrs. obama was described as an angry black woman, taking her phrases out of context, all intended to distort and discredit both barack and michelle obama and make him un-electable. - as the election draws near and the crowds get bigger for mccain, he starts to hear and see statements from the crowds that are unfair to barack obama. - we're scared. we're scared of an obama presidency. - and mccain could just-- if he wanted to, just laugh it off, ignore it, change the subject, pivot. that's what politicians are supposed to do. - but i have to tell you, i have to tell you he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared as the president of the united states. [crowd jeering] now, i just--now, i just--

- you don't have to correct your own people. as long as they vote for you, you're fine, unless you're john mccain. - i can't trust obama. i have heard about him, and he's not--he's not-- he's a--he's an arab. - and he will probably be remembered 100 years from now for that moment of truth choice he makes. - no, ma'am. no, ma'am. - no? - no, ma'am. no, ma'am. no, ma'am. he's a--he's a decent family man, citizen, that i just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and that's what this campaign is all about. he's not. thank you. thank you. - he did something that, you know, was not often done in politics, a moment of great fairness and--and grace in a--in a difficult situation. - that was john mccain at his best. - we want a fight, and i will fight, but we will be respectful.

i admire senator obama and his accomplishments. - he looked at his own base and says, "no. i don't want your support based on a lie. i want your support based on the truth of who i am," and it may have cost him. who knows the impact of that? - because that's the way politics should be conducted in america. [cheers and applause] ♪ ♪ - good morning, election day. after a hard-fought battle-- - the epic battle between barack obama and john mccain shifts to america's voters. - happening now, an historic election day here in the united states, barack obama and john mccain, vote. - two men, two parties, two very different visions. - we knew we were gonna win, and clearly we were gonna win with a big margin, but it didn't become real until all the networks said-- - barack obama, 47 years old, will become the president-elect of the united states. [cheers and applause]

- yeahah! we won!! [cheerers and applplause] [laughter]r] - wellll, i had bebeen in grarant park duduring the d , so i'd watched the crowd build. the spirit is hard to put into words. it was peaceful. it was jubilant. strangers were hugging one another and crying with emotion. [cheers and applause] - it was such a striking moment, young, african-american, so much promise. - the road ahead will be long. our climb will be steep. - but it was more sober than people think. it was almost, like, deep breath time, like, okay, now the real work begins. - we will get there. i promise you, we as a people will get there. all: yes, we can! yes, we can! yes, we can! yes, we can!